Water parks have grown in popularity throughout the world in recent years. A water park is a type of amusement park that incorporates water features and rides, such as waterslides, spray areas, lazy rivers, swimming pools, wave pools, and other recreational bathing and swimming environments. Waterslides are often primary attractions in a water park. Typical waterslides are made of fiberglass troughs and/or tubes that are aligned and coupled together to provide a fixed and generally downward slopping flow path. Water slides (e.g., body slides, inner tube slides, raft slides) may be designed for patrons to ride without a transport device or with a transport device (e.g., on an inner tube or raft). In operation, water is typically pumped to the top of the traditional waterslides and into associated troughs and/or tubes such that the water passes along the flow path. Patrons may then enter the top of the slide and be propelled along with the water from the top of the slide to the bottom of the slide. Gravity and/or pumps generally create the motive force to bring the water (and any patrons riding the slide) to the bottom of the slide. Additional water may be injected along the path to alter the rider/ride vehicle velocity or trajectory.
Certain characteristics of waterslides may make them more or less appealing to patrons. For example, certain patrons may prefer high thrill level waterslides while other patrons may prefer low thrill level waterslides. An extremely steep waterslide that provides rapid acceleration and sharp turns may be considered to have a high thrill level, while a more gradually sloping and winding waterslide that provides less acceleration may be considered to have a low thrill level. Accordingly, in order to appeal to a wide demographic of patrons, many water parks include multiple waterslides that each has characteristics such that each waterslide provides a different thrill level. Indeed, certain water park attractions may include multiple waterslides in the same themed area, wherein each of the separate waterslides has a different associated thrill level. This allows patrons to select a waterslide with a preferred thrill level for riding in the same themed area, which makes the themed area appealing to a wider variety of patrons.